Signs of Hope

April 12, 2026 Acts 2:14, 22-32 Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Easter people, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed! Yet we, like Thomas, may find questions bubbling up: How do we know? What’s the proof? Is Resurrection real? Within our questioning, Christ appears. We may find ourselves like the other disciples, witnesses of Christ’s resurrection who struggle to understand the doubt of others. Within our certainty, Christ appears. Whether you come to worship full of certainty or doubt, you are welcome here, for we are all participants in the story of God’s salvific work in the world, a story still unfolding all around us. We gather to worship, believing that in certainty and doubt, the resurrected Christ dwells among us! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2025. Invocation Gracious and Eternal God, you are the one who calls us together and the one who sends us out in the world. Remind us, as we gather, how good it is to dwell with you and one another. Stir our hearts to love boldly, freely, and joyfully. Let us praise you with our whole lives and magnify your name by our works. We bless and honor you, O Faithful One, from generation to generation and from community to community. Speak to our spirits and receive our worship. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl A. Lindsey) Song A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “Stand Up and Tell the Good News!” Acts 2:14, 22–32 Good morning, friends! I want to ask you a question—have you ever been afraid to stand up in front of people? Maybe at school… maybe to answer a question… or maybe to tell someone something important? (Wait for answers) Yeah, that can feel scary, right? Today I brought something simple with me. (Hold up a small toy or even just your hand.) I want to teach you a little sign. Take one hand like this (hold it flat), and then take two fingers on your other hand and stand them up on top. This means “stand.” Can you all try it with me? Good job! ________________________________________ In our Bible story today, there was a man named Peter the Apostle. Now Peter wasn’t always brave. In fact, when Jesus was in trouble, Peter got really scared. He didn’t stand up. He hid. He even said he didn’t know Jesus. But something amazing happened. Jesus came back to life—Easter! And God sent the Holy Spirit to be with Peter. And guess what Peter did? He stood up. Right in front of a big crowd, he told everyone: “Jesus is alive! God loves you!” That took courage! ________________________________________ So I want you to try something. Everyone sit down for a second. (Pause) Now… when I say “Jesus is alive!” I want you to stand up as fast as you can! Ready? “JESUS IS ALIVE!” (Watch them stand and smile) That’s what Peter did! He stood up to share good news. ________________________________________ Here’s the important part: You don’t have to be big or grown up to stand up for Jesus. You can stand up when: • You are kind to someone who feels left out • You tell the truth • You help a friend • You remind someone that God loves them Every time you do those things—you are standing up, just like Peter. ________________________________________ So remember: Even when you feel scared… Even when it’s hard… God helps you be brave. And you can stand up and share the good news: Jesus is alive! Let’s say it together one more time—and stand! “JESUS IS ALIVE!” ________________________________________ Let’s pray: Dear God, Thank you for loving us. Help us be brave like Peter. Help us stand up and share your love. Amen. (ChatGPT version 5.2) Prayer Scripture Acts 2:14, 22-32 Sermon Signs of the Future Sermon: “Standing in Hope” Acts 2:14, 22–32 Ben Franklin once said that the only things we can be sure of are death and taxes. And during the month of April—especially this year—it feels like he wasn’t wrong. This April, we have faced both. At the beginning of the month, during Holy Week, we came face to face with our sin, our humanity, and our part in the death of Jesus Christ. And now that Easter has passed—it is full-on tax season. But the truth is, death and taxes are two very different conversations. Taxes come every year. Death comes once in a lifetime. Yet both can feel heavy… even overwhelming. But there is a third conversation happening in April. A better one. A conversation filled with joy, hope, and life. Easter is not just a day— it is a transformation. Easter is not just a day - it is a season. Fifty days of resurrection life. And if we are paying attention, it is a season that can transform not only our personal lives, but the mission of the church itself. During Eastertide, we don’t just hear stories about Jesus rising from the dead—we hear stories about what happens after. We hear how the resurrection changes people. We hear how the Holy Spirit opens doors that were once shut. And we see how the church is born—a church where everyone is invited into the miracle of new life. And in a world that constantly reminds us of scarcity, division, and fear—it is refreshing to hear that hope still has the power to change everything. ________________________________________ Last week, I showed you the sign for Jesus—does anyone remember? Today, I want to show you another sign. The sign is stand. Take one hand, hold it steady. Then take two fingers like a peace sign, turn them upside down, and place them firmly on the other hand. Our scripture begins this way: “Peter stood with the eleven…” Peter stood. That may not sound like much—but it is everything. Because this is the same Peter who, just weeks earlier, was afraid. The same Peter who denied Jesus. The same Peter who ran away and hid. He did not stand at the cross. He did not stand in courage. He did not stand in faith. But now—he stands. What changed? The resurrection happened. The Holy Spirit came. And Peter was transformed. The opposite of standing firm is having your world turned upside down. So the sign is the exact opposite. And if we are honest, we know what Peter fear feels like. Fear, uncertainty, doubt—we have all been there. There is a little bit of Peter in each of us. Which is exactly why this story matters. ________________________________________ Now let me say something bold: It’s a miracle that you are here today. And I don’t just mean the “first Sunday after Easter” miracle—though that counts! I don’t mean the miracle of getting kids dressed and out the door. I don’t mean the miracle of choosing church over everything else you could be doing. Those are real miracles—but I mean something deeper. I mean the miracle that, somewhere along the way, your heart was opened. Opened to hear that God loves you. Opened to believe that Christ is alive. Opened to receive grace. That is the miracle of faith. And that miracle didn’t start with you. It started long ago—on another morning, in another crowded city, when Peter stood up and told the world: “We are not drunk… we are filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus was crucified—but he is alive!” And that message changed everything. ________________________________________ Acts chapter 2 is one of the most powerful moments in all of Scripture. It is Peter’s first sermon. Jesus had commanded the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations—and here they are, gathered in Jerusalem during Pentecost, surrounded by people from all over the world. This was their moment. Peter speaks—and 3,000 people respond. 3,000 lives changed. Why? Because they saw themselves in the story. They recognized God at work in their own lives. They encountered hope. And that same invitation is extended to us today. ________________________________________ So let me ask you: Where have you seen new life in your own story? Where have you experienced healing? Where have you found forgiveness? Where has something broken been made whole? That is resurrection. When a relationship is restored—that is resurrection. When grace replaces guilt—that is resurrection. When hope rises where despair once lived—that is resurrection. The empty tomb is not just something we remember. It is something we live. ________________________________________ Peter says in verse 26: “My heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope.” That phrase “rest in hope” can also be translated as “to dwell in hope”—to build your life there, like a bird building its nest. In other words: because of Jesus, we don’t just visit hope—we live in it. ________________________________________ There was a man named Terry Waite, an envoy of the Church of England. In 1987, while negotiating for hostages, he himself was captured and held in solitary confinement for nearly five years. Five years. Alone. Beaten. Barely fed. And yet, he said he survived by praying, by remembering Scripture, and by celebrating communion each day with a tiny piece of bread and water. After his release, he said something remarkable: “If you have faith, you will not be destroyed… you will find that you can live in hope.” Live in hope. That is what Peter discovered. That is what the disciples lived. And that is what we are invited into. ________________________________________ Because here is the truth: We still live in a world that talks about death and taxes. A world that knows fear and uncertainty. But we are people of a different conversation. Because he lives, we can face tomorrow. Because he lives, we can face hardship. Because he lives, we can even face death—not with fear, but with hope. ________________________________________ So now the question is not just: Do you believe in the resurrection? The question is: Will you stand in it? Will you stand like Peter? Will you stand in hope? Will you stand and be a witness? Because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead… the same Spirit that transformed Peter… is alive in you. ________________________________________ Let us stand. Let us live in hope. Let us be witnesses to the resurrection. Amen. Song Pastoral Prayer How magnificent this place is today. The flowers that grace our worship area shout the good news of new life. Their colors and shapes dance with joy at the news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we also rise in hope and celebration at this good news. The journey has been long, and it does not end here, but rather we are given new “marching orders” to go forth in confidence for God, to witness to the good news of the resurrection and the power of God’s love in Jesus Christ. We are called to be bearers of the light and hope to areas in which darkness still stands. Keep us open to the needs and hearts of other people. Help us not to be so quick to condemn as we are to love. Help us to reach out in kindness and compassion whenever and wherever we can for healing and hope. Remind us again of the many ways in which you have and continue to bless our lives. For we ask these things in the name of the Resurrected Christ. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship Margaret Renkl, a contemporary writer, wrote about being in worship following Easter. She affirmed, “I will … remember the ones I loved who sat beside me in the pew and whose participation in the eternal has found another form. I will lift my voice in song and give thanks for my life. I will pray for my church and my country, especially the people my church and my country are failing. And then I will walk into the world and do my best to practice resurrection.” (From “Easter Is Calling Me Back to the Church,” New York Times, March 25, 2018) I will walk into the world and do my best to practice resurrection. That’s our calling as Easter people! New life gives us new opportunities to practice resurrection. Like the first disciples, having received the resurrected Jesus’ gift (“receive the Holy Spirit!”), our best actions include using our time, our talents, and our treasure to offer LIFE to a world of need. Join me in sharing from our finances and in committing to sharing our time and our talents to plant this as a place where many are enabled to practice resurrection. With generous hearts, let’s act out our identity as resurrection people! Prayer of Thanksgiving God of abundant life, thank you for the Good News of resurrection! Thank you for the ways we’re inspired to live out that message through our daily lives. Accept these gifts and accept our intention not to hoard our time talents, and treasure, but to share them as “Alleluia!” signals of the life you desire for all your beloved children. AMEN Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Beloved, as you go know that you have been sent By a Creator who endowed you with every gift you need By a Loving God who stays with you on the journey By a Sovereign God who protects and provides By a Purposeful God who has a role for you in the kindom By a Merciful and Gracious God who understands and anticipates your mistakes By a Mighty God who offers refuge and hope in the raging storms By a Kind God who blesses us with community By a Challenging God who holds us accountable By a Risen God who laid the path that you might follow In love and hope, empowered and equipped, for honor and glory. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Philip Gladden) Additional resources The word for "stand" in the language of signing is to place your index and third fingers upright on your palm, held flat, as if standing. When I first learned some signing years ago, the father of a deaf boy in my parish was amused to point out that even signing has its slang. There's a proper sign for "understanding," which derives its origin from the learning process it describes. But he noted that there is also a slang equivalent. You take the sign for stand, and turn it upside down. How very appropriate that sign is for the Spirit's gift of understanding! This spiritual understanding defies gravity and reason; the conventional way of thinking is turned upside down. So Peter's words to the crowd, which he knows includes many who called for Jesus' crucifixion, are not words of revenge or anger or bitterness. He proclaims to them that God still holds out to them the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit -- "to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." The scripture tells that many were cut to the heart and wanted to know what they could do. "Repent," Peter replies, "turn your lives around." And thousands were baptized, and shared with the apostles in prayer and study and fellowship and communal meals. Our pews are full of such Peters, and Peters in progress. I’m glad to know the desire to not pass on bad news is universal. And that’s why I think Peter’s speech in Acts 2 took so much courage. A little over 40 days prior, Peter had denied he even knew Jesus. There is no evidence he was present at Jesus’ crucifixion. It appears he was more concerned with protecting his own life than following Jesus to the cross. Who can blame him? Yet on this day, the day of Pentecost, when Jerusalem was filled with Jewish believers from every nation, Peter stands up and makes this speech. And what a speech it was! There were no public relations agencies back then, but if there had been, the disciples’ PR rep never would have let Peter make this speech. “So you’re telling these guys that they killed the Messiah? Yeah, I’d scratch that entirely. No way they’re going to listen to you after that.” In 1852, six years before the Civil War, when slavery was entrenched in American society, abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at a public meeting in Ohio. He wanted to provide words of hope, but he just couldn’t see any way to obtain freedom and justice for those who were forced into slavery. But there was a woman attending the meeting that day named Sojourner Truth. Sojourner had escaped slavery and become a powerful speaker and social activist. And as she listened to her friend Douglass struggling for hope, she stood up and asked one question, “Frederick, is God dead?” And that one question instantly changed the mood of the meeting and filled Frederick Douglass and his listeners with hope. In fact, this question was so powerful that it is inscribed on Sojourner Truth’s gravestone. Is God dead? We aren’t facing the enormous and painful struggles of slavery and systemic injustice that Douglass and Sojourner Truth and so many African Americans faced back then. But we face our own challenges and fears and an uncertain future. How do we live with unshakable hope? By remembering that we serve a living God, and that God has always had a plan to save us and ensure our eternal life with Him. This life is not the end. Rev. Kenneth Kovacs shares a story he heard about a woman from Indiana who was volunteering at a refugee camp in El Salvador. As this woman witnessed the suffering of the refugees, sadness covered her like a black cloud. She couldn’t see any hope for their future. Until a refugee woman asked her why she looked so troubled. She pointed to the challenges the refugees were facing. The woman said that every time the refugees had to move to a new camp, they created three committees: “a construction committee, an education committee, and a committee of joy.” This third committee had the job of celebrating what is good in the present moment and pointing the refugees toward a hopeful future. The refugees made a choice to trust God and to live in hope. (4) And the final insight we get from this passage is that the truth of the resurrection motivates us to live in hope. Think for a moment. Where in your day-to-day living has new life taken root? Where have you found healing? How have new beginnings come upon you? Are these not the resurrection? Have you experienced forgiveness? Have you tasted the joy of grace in a relationship? All of this is of God. All of it echoes the beauty of that empty tomb, and if we can embrace it, we are witnesses to it all. Each of us has FOUR choices in life. These are basically the only choices we have in life. And we're told to pick one. We can choose to DO MORE of certain things. We can choose to DO LESS of certain things. WE can choose to STOP doing old things. We can choose to start doing new things. (I adapt this from Brian Tracy's Focal Point (New York: AMACOM, 2002), 4-5.) We can do more: more good; more exercise; more for our family; more for our community; more for our schools, more for the environment. We can do less; less consuming; less complaining; less needing; less demanding. We can stop; stop hating; stop being afraid; stop focusing on ourselves; stop rejecting all who differ from ourselves; stop hiding. We can start; start to care; start to feel; start to empathize; start to open up; start to see our unity; start to love again. He Rose Again! A man stood in front of the window of an art store in which a picture of the crucifixion of our Lord was on display. He was gazing intently at the display; the bleeding, dying, suffering form of the man on the middle cross had captured all his thoughts, and he was barely conscious of another person who stood beside him. Finally, turning around, he noticed a little boy with his eyes, too, fixed upon the scene. He was just a ragged little mite of humanity, standing there in torn clothes. The man thought he would see if the boy knew what the picture was about, so he said, "Son, do you know who that is?" The child was quick to reply, "Yes, sir," pointing to the man on the middle cross, "That’s our Savior." He was so surprised that that the man seemed not to know about him, and with a bit of pity in his voice, the boy eagerly told him the story of Jesus. "So," he continued, "them’s the soldiers," pointing to the Romans who had nailed Christ to the cross. Then, pointing to a woman near the edge of the crowd, he said, "That’s his mother, see. The woman who is crying." He pushed his hands deep into his pockets, as if waiting to see if the man wanted another answer about the scene. After a long silence, the boy said, "Yes, sir, that’s Jesus, and they killed him." "Where did you learn all this?" the man asked. "At Sunday school, sir," the boy replied. The man, with mingled feelings, turned once again to the crucifixion scene in the window and after a moment slowly walked away. The little street urchin was left looking at the picture alone. The man had not walked more than two blocks when he heard the sound of small feet beating exultantly on the sidewalk and a childish voice crying, "Mister! say, Mister!" Turning around, the man saw the same little lad running toward him. He was nearly out of breath, but when he reached him, he cried out triumphantly and joyously, "I forgot to tell you, HE ROSE AGAIN! Yes, Mister, HE ROSE AGAIN! That’s the most important part!" It is the most important part. We have no need for "After-Easter-Letdown." We are now made not just spectators, but participants, joyful witnesses to a sick, doubting, sinful, dying world, that because he lives, we live - and they can live also! CSS Publishing Co,. Inc., Bitter-sweet Recollections, by Barbara Brokhoff Automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine which we know today as the V8. Ford was eager to get his great new idea into production. He had some men draw up the plans, and presented them to the engineers. As the engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same conclusion. Their visionary boss just didn't know much about the fundamental principles of engineering. He'd have to be told gently his dream was impossible. Ford said, "Produce it anyway." They replied, "But it's impossible." "Go ahead," Ford commanded, "and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required." For six months they struggled with drawing after drawing, design after design. Nothing. Another six months. Nothing. At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers and they once again told him that what he wanted was impossible. Ford told them to keep going. They did. And they discovered how to build a V8 engine. (4) Motivation that lasts comes from having someone greater than ourselves instructing us, encouraging us, prodding us, exhorting us. The disciples were changed because now they had the inner witness of the living Christ. They had more than excitement. They were changed persons. The Spirit had come and now dwelt within them. They were excited. They were also forever changed. One thing more needs to be noted. Look what kind of change took place. It is the kind of change that takes place every time a person truly comes under the Lordship of Christ. THEY LOOKED UPWARD AND THEY LOOKED OUTWARD. They devoted themselves to Bible study, prayer and praise. They also devoted themselves to increased fellowship with one another. Even more important, they opened their fellowship to the world outside. They were so eager to share what they had received that new persons were added to the church daily. When Fanny Brice, the renowned comedienne, was first offered a job from the much-acclaimed Florenz Ziegfeld, she accepted the job very quietly without much show of emotion. She thanked his secretary and his doorman very politely. As soon as she was out of the building, though, she raced down to the theater where she would be performing. All afternoon, she stood in front of the Broadway theater and grabbed people off the sidewalk to tell them that she would soon be working there. Wouldn't it be great to leave church this morning with that kind of excitement, that kind of enthusiasm--so that no matter how calm and sophisticated we look while we are inside these walls, we couldn't wait to get outside to share Christ's love with somebody else? That happened to the church on the day of Pentecost. Let's pray that it happens again--to us--our church--here and now. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes." This week we would not question the validity of what he said. The difference, however, is that April 15 and the time for paying our income taxes comes around once a year. Death comes only once in a lifetime to each of us as human beings. So we look at them and we deal with them differently. WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THE EXCITEMENT. We all need excitement in our lives. We need it in our work. We need it in our marriages. We also need it in the church. I say that knowing that some people are scared to death of getting excited in church. It reminds me of a story David McCullough tells in his book MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK about young Teddy Roosevelt: Roosevelt's mother discovered one day that her son was so afraid of the Madison Square Church where their family attended that he refused to set foot inside if alone. He was terrified, she discovered, of something called the `zeal.' This zeal was crouched in the dark corners of the church ready to jump at him, he said. When she asked what a zeal might be, he said he was not sure, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or a dragon. He had heard the minister read about it from the Bible. Using a concordance, she read him those passages containing the word zeal until suddenly, very excited, he told her to stop. The line was from John, 2:17, "And his disciples remembered that it was written, `The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.'" Young Teddy wanted nothing to do with this zeal that could eat people up. There are people today who are scared to death of the zeal of the Lord. They associate excitement or enthusiasm or zeal with emotionalism. They associate it with dancing in the aisles and jumping pews. Most of us would not be comfortable in such an atmosphere. Nevertheless, we do hunger for a little more excitement--a little more enthusiasm. The word `enthusiasm' comes from the Greek word ENTHOUSIASMOS which means `the God within you.' Is there anyone in this room who does not hunger for a greater sense of God's presence within? Maurice Boyd tells about a book called THE ENTHUSIASMS OF ROBERTSON DAVIES. Davies' enthusiasms described in the book range all the way from Mozart to figgy-pudding. "Do you have any enthusiasms?" Boyd asks. He tells about Eugene Ormandy who dislocated his shoulder while conducting the Philadelphia orchestra. Boyd speculates that Ormandy may have been conducting Brahms. In the margin of one of his symphonies Brahms wrote, "As loud as possible!" Only a few bars later, however, he wrote in, "Louder still!" Boyd concludes, "I know some people who have reached middle-age and have never had an enthusiasm great enough to dislodge a necktie let alone their shoulder." (1) That first Pentecost, there was a great enthusiasm. There was excitement. A.W. Tozer, that great preacher of a previous generation, was right. Perhaps we Christians can be seen as a bit odd: We love someone we have never seen; we daily speak aloud to someone we do not hear. We are strongest when we are weakest and richest when we are poorest. We die so that we might live and give away so that we can keep. We see the invisible, hear the inaudible, and know that which is beyond knowledge. Christian strange? Are we delusional? No. We just know the end of the story and that makes all of the difference.

Are You Prepared to Follow Jesus?

January 22, 2023 Matthew 4:12-23 Third Sunday after Epiphany Year A Are you prepared to follow Jesus? Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship One: As we come together to worship God, we remember Many: “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, One: and for those who sat in the shadow of death, light has dawned.” Many: In the light, our joy is increased! One: The weight of our burdens is relieved, Many: and we offer thanks to the Lord, our God! (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Opening Prayer Mighty God, we rejoice today like those who celebrate an abundant harvest! Your actions lift us up. As the days grow longer and we’re drawn closer to you, we eagerly anticipate seeing signs of your Realm, the kin-dom of heaven, coming near. Cue in us the joy of our salvation. Renew our desire to repent – to turn once more toward your love, made visible in the light of Jesus. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Song Jesus Calls Us UMH 398 Children’s Sermon Greet the children, bringing up some fishing equipment. Hello, children of God! You know what? I think I would like to do some fishing. Have any of you ever been fishing before? What do you need to do when you fish? I have with me some equipment that people sometimes use when they go fishing. (Hold up items as you discuss) So here is a fishing “rod”: you put some kind of “bait” on the end, and then you hold it until a fish comes along and bites at it. Then you turn this crank and try to reel it in! Here’s another kind of item you might use…it’s a net. This kind of tool might make it easy to scoop up fish if you had a lot of them in one spot. Sometimes people use really big nets to pull in fish. This was probably how people used to fish in the times of Jesus, in fact. They had huge nets that they would toss into the water to see what they could pull up. Here are some pictures of boats that might help people catch fish. So why are we talking about fishing? Well, here’s another question: have you ever been fishing for people? Wait, how does that work?? Can you catch people in a net?? (pretend to “catch” one of the students) That seems strange… But you know what, in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus invited His disciples to be fishers of men. He met a man named Peter, who had a fishing boat. Jesus began to preach from the middle of the lake, right on this boat! Then He told Peter to put his nets down to catch fish…Peter tried to explain that he hadn’t caught any fish all night, but he followed the directions of Jesus and put his net down again. When he did, he caught more fish than he could even carry! This made him realize that Jesus was something very special, was SomeONE very special. Peter bowed before Jesus. He was willing to do whatever it might take to follow this teacher. Peter left his fishing boat and his old job in order to become a disciple. Jesus told Peter and his brother Andrew that they would become “fishers of men.” This meant that He was going to use the former fishers in a special way. They would be gathering more followers for Jesus, and would serve people and help people just like Jesus did. Would you like to be a fisher for disciples? You can! Instead of sitting by a lake or scooping up fish in a pond, you can be a fisher by telling others about Jesus. You can share His love by loving others. Jesus wants us to tell everyone about Him and “make disciples” for Him. We can be fishers of friends! This is an amazing blessing and privilege that we have from God. We can still work at regular jobs, of course. But we can also spread the love of Jesus and “catch” other people to be part of God’s family! We need to be willing to follow Him, and encourage others to do the same. Why don’t we say a prayer about that now? ________________________________________ Children’s Prayer Moment (Have kids repeat each line) Dear God, Thank you for the love of Jesus Help us to follow Him and know what that means. Help us share His love with one another. Thank you that we can be disciples, too. Thank you for your love. We love you, God! Kristin Schmidt, Ministry to Children Prayer of Confession (Isaiah 9, Psalm 27,1 Corinthians 1, Matthew 4) God of our light and our salvation, sometimes we prefer to live in dakness, embracing the safety and anonymity of the shadows; sometimes we delight in our divisions, believing we are better than others; sometimes the yoke of our calling feels too heavy, and we seek to slip out from under the bar across our shoulders. Forgive our fear. Forgive our aversion to the light. Forgive our unresponsiveness to your call. Forgive our willful blindness and deafness to the Way. Help us know deep in our souls that you are our light and our salvation, our joy and our wonder, our very life. Hear us as we cry aloud in our need. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Joanne Carlson Brown) Words of Assurance (Psalm 27) Our God of light and love hears us when we cry aloud. We have nothing to fear. Know that this God of light wraps us in comforting arms, lifts us from the darkness of our guilt and sin, and forgives us once and for all. Know that we will dwell in safety in God’s house, now and forevermore. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Joanne Carlson Brown) Passing the Peace of Christ (Psalm 27) Greet one another with these words: “The God of light and love and salvation surrounds you with joy and peace.” (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Joanne Carlson Brown) Prayer of Preparation (Isaiah 9) Open the eyes of our hearts, O God, to the dawning light of your words of love and salvation. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Joanne Carlson Brown) Scripture Matthew 4:12-28 Sermon Are you prepared to follow Jesus? The key words to our sermon today are fishing, followers and fascination – fishers of men, followers of Jesus and then there is fascination. There was a woman who was the director of a drug rehabilitation center. One day a tall, strong man with a baseball bat entered the reception area. He was shouting obscenities and began banging the bat on the secretaries desk and the admitting personnel. They jumped back and tried to get as far away from him as possible. One ran into the back room and called the police. The woman who directed the center came our and walked right up to the screaming man waving the bat. She ducked under his reach wrapped his arm around his chest. In a heartfelt voice she repeated, oh you poor man. They stood together in that strange embrace for a while, and then the man began to sob. The woman led him to a chair. He slumped into it and waited for the police. He never let go of the baseball bat. That woman’s courage must be a fascinating story. I suspect she may be a follower of Christ. We can be also. In new testament times, people must have had that type of fascination with John the Baptist. – They wanted to know what was in him that made him so bold, so determined to meet a goal, what made him so able to cut through the chase. They were so fascinated with him that they flocked to the desert to see him. Even Jesus was drawn to his charisma, his ministry, his command to repent. No one knows why – but all of the gospels writers agree that Jesus never started his ministry until John the Baptist was arrested. Perhaps it was out of respect, perhaps out of fascination that Jesus waited. Of course when Jesus did go out and begin to tell others about the Kingdom of God, that fascination for John the Baptist – transfers to the ministry of Jesus. People were naturally drawn. Last week John the gospel writer talked about 2 disciples, today Matthew mentions 4 – Andrew, Simon, James and John. They all literally walk away from family, job, destiny and follow Jesus. Jesus tells them to put down your nets, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. In Israel, on the Lake of Galilee, there is this popular tourist sight called Peter’s boat. It was dark by the time that we got there, so there was not much to see. I just remember this old boat in the middle of the lake that was covered in mud. This was supposedly the place where Jesus first met Andrew and Simon Peter. Right next to the lake is a restaurant – I think it’s called Peter’s Place. There specialty is Peter’s catch of the day. I don’t remember what kind of fish it was, but I do remember that it was fried, really tasty, but way too big to eat all of it. But seriously, Jesus encourages us all to become fishers of Men. Fishing Takes Practice Ernest Hemingway loved fishing as much as he loved writing. He would never have been a great writer had he not fished, and he would never have been a great fisherman had he not written. Maybe his great work "The Old Man and the Sea" is so powerful because it is at one time so dramatically simple and also so dramatically deep. But "The Old Man and The Sea" is only one of Hemingway's great stories about fishing. His favorite saying apparently was this-something he learned while fishing and writing: Il faut (d'abord) durer. "It is necessary, above all else, to endure. It is necessary to endure," he said. Yes, fishing remains one of the great models of Jesus for the kingdom of God. Maybe our age and culture are in danger of losing the image because we no longer go fishing - just like we no longer herd sheep and know what a shepherd is. We no longer plant seed in the ground and know what growth is. We no longer draw water from wells and know what living water is. Fishing also teaches us about discipline. "Follow me, and I will make you fishers," said Jesus. Fishing takes practice, preparation, discipline. One must learn how to best throw the net, how to make the mouth of the net come open too. I can throw the actual cast net a long way, but I can't always make the net come open so that it will actually form a circle around the fish. One must learn how to cast the line on a rod. Again, some folks can cast a long way, but their accuracy is awful. There may be fish on the right, but they know only how to cast the line to the left. There may be fish on the left, but they keep casting to the right. Casting, like discipleship, is an acquired habit. It rewards practice. Samuel G. Candler, Follow Me, and I Will Make You Go Fishing Not all of us know how to fish, but we can all follow Jesus. I think it is Max Lucado who tells the story of loving to fish with his father. Follow Me There was a field covered with freshly fallen snow. A father and a son enter the field. As they walk across the field, you notice that the father pays no particular attention to where he is going, but his son, on the other hand, follows directly behind, making a special effort to step in his father’s footprints. After the two have crossed the field, you notice that there is only one set of tracks visible in the field, although two had walked across it. The Christian life is that way. In our daily walk we ought to be following Christ's example. Whether in times of suffering, sorrow or need, whether in times of health, joy, or abundance--if someone were to observe the snow-covered fields of your life, would there be one set of tracks, those of Christ? Or would there be two sets, one belonging to Christ and the other distinctly yours? Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993, p.53. Adapted What does it mean to follow Jesus now, when we cant physically follow in his footsteps, even though his spirit is with us? We can be inspired to do his will, to make the world a better place and to draw others into the fold. Not all of us have been fishing but we can all fish for men. Fishers of Men (Witnessing) Most of our witnessing is likely to happen in passing moments of conversation--those occasions when we show, in relatively minor ways, who we are and to whom we belong. I think of a suburban woman who was playing tennis with her good but quite secular friends. In a conversation break between sets she began referring to something she had read that morning. It would have been easy to say, "I read something this morning." Instead, with no attempt at piosity, she simply introduced one word: "In my devotional reading this morning." It was not a major soul-winning engagement. It was, however, a true sowing of seed. By a word, she had opened the door for some further conversation. Perhaps our greatest problem in becoming Christ’s fishermen is that we are not enough in earnest to grasp the opportunities that come to us; or we are so possessed of the idea that we must say something dramatic and far-reaching that we fail to say the small, immediate and potentially significant thing. To put it in the language of our lesson for the day, most of us really don’t act as if we even have a call to "fish." We’re out in the waters of human need every day, but we don’t seem to know it. The issue is not that we should become more aggressive about sharing our faith. It is that we should be more sensitive to the needs of the world around us, and more sensitive to the subtle prodding of the Holy Spirit. The two sensitivities are wonderfully intertwined. To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit must mean that we will be more sensitive to people and their pain; to be more sensitive to people ought to make us more open to God and his purposes. J. Ellsworth Kalas, Reading the Signs, From Empty Nets to Full Lives, CSS Publishing Company In the age of COVID we all know what essential persoel are – but do we realize that in the church, we are all essential. It takes all of us to become fishers of men. Jesus invites all of us to come and follow him every day. Karl Barth who says that we should preach the gospel every day, and if necessary use words. Remember Christ in our actions. Our key words for today – fishers, followers and fascination. Someone defined a disciple as someone who is so fascinated with another person that they want to know everything about what makes that person tick. Are you fascinated with Jesus? Jesus was bold in life and in ministry. How can we live on the edge like he does. A Job vs. A Ministry Someone has said there is a huge difference between having a job at church and having a ministry at church. ... If you are doing it because no one else will, it's a job. If you are doing it to serve the Lord, it's a ministry. ... If you're doing it just well enough to get by, it's a job. If you're doing it to the best of your ability, it's a ministry. ... If you'll do it only so long as it doesn't interfere with other activities, it's a job. If you're committed to staying with it even when it means letting go of other things, it's a ministry. ... It's hard to get excited about a job. It's almost impossible not to get excited about a ministry. An average church is filled with people doing jobs. A great church is filled with people involved in ministry. Mickey Anders, The Beginning of Ministry Someone else said that being a disciple is making a decision – a decision to be in ministry to Christ in every things and in every place. I often wonder what would have happen had Jesus invited Andrew and Simon to put down their nets and come and follow me and become fishers of men and they said no thank you – I have work to do. None of us would be here today. We are all confronted, called and consecrated by Christ. Let’s all follow Christ – if nothing else – it will be an adventure. Peace Song Lord You have come to the Lakeshore UMH 344 PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE God of unity, We come before you dismayed at our own divisions. We have struggled as your church to live in unity; but we are divided – along the fault lines of our societies. The ruptures in our families, among friends, among denominations, among nations are wide and deep. When we attempt to get on the same page, we build taller walls and dig deeper trenches. God, help us! We know that Christ is not divided. We know that it is your baptism to which we have been called. It is your service to which we are compelled. You have called us to proclaim the gospel, but we even fight about what that is. Help us, God! Help us give up our power and our privileges. Help us to yield for the sake and cause of the cross of Jesus. Help us to want the unity you share, for you are one; in you, there is no division. Help us to embrace and to live the foolishness of a life emptied of power and given to service, in the likeness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to walk in salvation – in the name of the servant Christ, amen. Carolyn W. Dandridge, The Africana Worship Book, Year A, Valerie Bridgeman Davis and Safiyah Fosua, eds., (Discipleship Resources, 2006), 85. Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Sometimes I wish the Gospel writers would have described the call of Jesus’ disciples in more detail. It’s difficult to comprehend how these followers were able to hear Jesus’ invitation and respond in such a radical way. Did they “count the cost” of leaving their homes, families and businesses? What made it worth giving themselves so completely to following this wandering teacher? Jesus did not offer them an expense account, a time-share, or any indication how he would help meet their basic needs. Yet these people “left the boat and their father, and followed (Jesus).” In comparison, for most of us, the call to follow Jesus demands much less. And yet…when we take seriously the call to become a disciple, we cannot know all the ways that will affect our life. Today, I invite you to take a deep breath and imagine what it could mean for you in 2023 to be a full-time disciple of Jesus. Might it mean sharing more of your time? Your talents? Your treasure? Might it mean inviting your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, to join you in following the Way? As we offer our tithes, offerings and financial gifts today, may we channel our inner Simon and Andrew, James and John! Imagine the joy in heaven as we, too, accept the call to “FOLLOW”. Prayer of Thanksgiving O God, through offering these gifts, may we become a more open people— open-minded in hearing your word and wisdom, open-hearted in healing a broken world, open-handed in heeding your call to charity and enacted love. With thanks for all good gifts, we present these tithes and offerings as symbols of our whole selves. Amen. (adapted from William Flewelling, Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook (Based on Matthew 4) Jesus, the light of the world, calls us to follow. Go and tell the news of God’s love. Cast the nets of grace wide, that all may see the glory of God. Go forth and shine with God’s light! May God—Source, Word, and Spirit— bless you with the radiance of love. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Mary Petrina Boyd) Community Time Benediction Recognize the greatness within and around you. Follow Jesus out into the world to spread the radiance of Christ, to proclaim the good news, and to be instruments of healing and wholeness. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Additional Illustrations The Art of Following - Matthew 4:12-23 If you’re my age or older you may remember Homer and Jethro. They were a comedy team who specialized in country music parodies and satire. They were sometimes referred to as “the thinking man’s hillbillies.” One of their routines went like this: HOMER: Jethro, if you was to win the Irish sweepstakes for two million dollars, would you give me half? JETHRO: Why, Homer, you’re my best and closest friend. You know I would. HOMER: I do know you would. That’s what friendship is all about. HOMER: Jethro, if you had two big luxurious houses like those ones in the Beverly Hills and I was livin’ yonder under the bridge without no home, would you give me one of your big luxurious houses? JETHRO: Homer, you’re my best and closest friend. You know I would. HOMER: Yessir, we’re best friends. Didn’t I know you’d say that. HOMER: Jethro, if you had two prize winnin’ Holstein cows and I had nary one, would you give me one of your cows? JETHRO: Homer, you wouldn’t even have to ask. You’re my closest friend and you know I would. HOMER: Jethro, if you had two really great huntin’ dogs... JETHRO: Hold on a minute, Homer. I got two huntin’ dogs. Homer and Jethro knew that charity is easy to idealize but hard to practice. I saw a routine like that played out in the area of theology and religion when I was in seminary. The professor was lecturing on the gospel of Luke and he had come to the third chapter where we find John the Baptist’s sermon to the people of Jerusalem. _________________ A Problem of Presentation Jesus came preaching that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What was there about that kingdom that got these fishermen so excited? And why are we not just as excited? Maybe we don't understand what the kingdom is. Or maybe it just hasn't been presented very well. It reminds me of a woman who read somewhere that dogs were healthier if fed a tablespoon of cod liver oil each day. So each day she followed the same routine. She chased her dog until she caught it, wrestled it down, and managed to force the fishy remedy down the dog's throat. Until one day when, in the middle of this grueling medical effort, the bottle was kicked over. With a sigh, she loosed her grip on the dog so she could wipe up the mess. To her surprise the dog trotted over to the puddle and begin lapping up what had been spilled. THE DOG LOVED COD LIVER OIL. It was just the owner's method of application the dog objected to. Sometimes I think something like that has happened to the good news of the Kingdom of God. It has been so poorly presented to us that we have never been captured by its attractiveness and its power. King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com Essential Personnel Even if we live where it rarely snows, the phrase is a familiar one. When budget talks collapse and the government shuts down, this is the phrase that is trotted out. When the earth suddenly moves under the people of California, often a certain group of people are called out while the rest are told to stay at home. When tornadoes blow through the Southwest and disrupt everything in their course, only certain people should risk the dangers involved. These are maintenance people, road crews, ambulance drivers, fire fighters, electric and gas company workers, truck drivers, and a whole host of service people who are taken for granted when things are running smoothly. We call them "essential personnel." Think about that phrase. Think about what it means to be essential personnel. Then, if you want to be humbled, think about what it is like to be non-essential personnel. Consider the fact that the world can go on without some of us. The good news is that in the church we are all, or at least all can be, essential personnel. We are called to be a special group of people and to do some important things. William B. Kincaid, III, And Then Came The Angel, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Turning Toward the Light A little boy named Bobby entered his first science fair in second grade. Because his Mom has a green thumb, they decided to experiment with the growth of plants. He took two small green plants and placed one on a sunny windowsill and the other in a cardboard box. After a couple of weeks, Bobby checked on the two plants. The one on the windowsill had grown a couple of inches and had vibrant green leaves. The one in the box had actually grown a bit, but it had lost all of its green color, becoming almost white and its leaves drooping. Thinking that the plant might die, Bobby cut a hole in one side of the box, like this, and set the box, with the plant inside, by the windowsill … with the hole facing toward the incoming light. Well you know what happened … but Bobby was so excited by this discovery! Yes, over the course of a few weeks, the plant began to grow out through the hole! And, a couple of weeks later, it turned to grow up toward the light and even blossomed! The plant that had been in gloomy darkness … and was all but dead … had seen a great light, it turned toward that light and blossomed! Well, Matthew wrote … after the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ … and therefore with the full realization of who this man of God was … he wrote that the Light had certainly dawned on the people by the sea, the kingdom of heaven had definitely come near; it had dawned and come near in the person of Jesus Christ … in the personified love and power of God that makes people … different … alive! Robert K. Schneider, Follow the Maker. Adapted by Brett Blair,www.Sermons.com Commentary Jesus lived three years with his disciples. They went everywhere together and did everything together. They ate, slept, and breathed the life of Jesus and yet it was difficult for them to make the transition in their minds from a Messiah who would be a mighty King of Jews to a Messiah that would die for the sins of mankind. But Jesus never wavered in his mission. Throughout his entire ministry among the people and his training of the disciples he held in his heart this hope: That Peter along with the rest of his disciples would lose their earthly ambitions and become feeders of sheep--fishers of men. The very first words of Jesus when he and Peter met at the waters was, "Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men." His very last words to Peter, again down at the waters of the Sea of Galilee, and after his resurrection, were, "Feed my sheep, Follow me." Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com ______________________ God Reigns Archbishop William Temple wrote in 1930: While we deliberate, God reigns; when we decide wisely, God reigns; when we decide foolishly, God reigns; when we serve God in humble loyalty, God reigns; when we serve God self-assertively, God reigns; when we rebel and seek to withhold our service, God reigns -- the Alpha and the Omega, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Archbishop William Temple. Quoted in "Context," February 1, 1992. Go Fish "Do you have any sevens?" "No. Go fish!" I remember playing that card game as a child - it consumed long hours on dull, rainy days. It didn't take much intellect but it chased away the boredom. "Go fish!" That's what Jesus said to his first disciples - only he wasn't playing games. He was serious. There at the very beginning of his ministry when he started recruiting his helpers, he called out to Peter and Andrew and said, "Come, follow me." Then he said, "I will make you fish for people." They already knew how to catch fish - that was their profession - but he called them to learn to bring in people. "Go fish!" he said and they did. James L. Collier, Go Fish! A Moment of Decision In his commentary William Barclay notes the significance of Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaum. He says, “There was a kind of symbolic finality in that move. In that moment Jesus left his home never again to return to live in it. It is as if he shut the door that lay behind him before he opened the door that stood in front of him. It was the clean cut between the old and the new. One chapter was ended and another had begun. Into life there come these moments of decision. It is always better to meet them with an even surgical cut than to vacillate undecided between two courses of action.” William Barclay The Evidence of Life Is Growth A disciple is one who studies with a great teacher. It is implied that those who follow Jesus need to grow. We do not blossom overnight into mature spiritual giants. As Dr. Dwayne Dyer said in his book, Your Erroneous Zones, "How do you distinguish between a flower that is alive and one that is dead? The one that is growing is alive. The only evidence of life is growth." So it is with the life of the spirit. One prominent evangelist has complained that despite the burgeoning statistics, the church today is not growing. It is merely getting fat. That is, persons are coming into the church but they are remaining spiritual babes. They are not growing. "We are simply multiplying spiritual babies," he charges. To be alive is to grow. Peter encourages us "to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3: 18). King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ____________________________________ The World’s Only Hope G. Ray Jordon, Methodist preacher from North Carolina and teacher of preachers at Emory University, wrote years ago, "The hope of civilization is that we shall be able to produce enough Christlike men to save it." That is the world's only hope. It was when Jesus first walked along the Sea of Galilee. It still is today. Thomas A. Pilgrim, The Man From Galilee, CSS Publishing Company, Inc

Easter is a Choice

Easter is a choice Acts 5:27-32 Second Sunday of Easter Year C It is Easter all over again today. If you used all of your energy to prepare for last Sunday, what did you do this Sunday? This is usually known as the lowest Sunday of the year, a Sunday that people are just trying to get through. But I am here to tell you that it is Easter all over again today. As a matter of fact the next 5 Sundays are easter Sundays. But Sunday is considered Sunday. Do we have the energy to make every Sunday easter? Well the good news is that the power of easter is not dependent on us. It is the holy spirit that makes every Sunday easter. It is the power of the holy spirit that raised jesus from the dead. it is the power of the holy spirit that ensures that it is a new day now – it is easter Sunday. The Easter Choice When faced with new realities, you have at least three options for how to respond (and it is nearly certain that you will opt for one of these three possibilities). First, you can stay bewildered. You can let this event knock you flat on your back and then stay there. Second, you can engage in world-class denial. You can look at the facts and ignore them. Or third, you can, slowly perhaps, assimilate this new information. You may get knocked as flat on your back as the next person by this new realization, but eventually you pick yourself up. You embrace this new truth and then go through the long, sometimes painful, process of re-assessing life in the light of this new evidence. This is the Easter choice. When faced with the incredible proclamation that Jesus rose again from the dead, you can be agnostic and cynical by saying that you don't know what to make of this but then neither are you going to try. Who cares anyway? Or you can deny it. The whole thing is fiction, fantasy, a pious wish but something that never really happened. Or you can move past the shock toward acceptance. But let me caution you: if you are going to accept the truth of the bodily resurrection, you need to let it change you totally. That's the Easter choice. The problem for most of us is that we are not surprised enough by Easter to realize we face a choice. Easter is a part of the background scenery of our lives. We've never been afraid of Easter, never been bewildered by it. Believing that Jesus rose again from the dead becomes a little like believing the earth is round and that it orbits the sun. Once upon a time people didn't know that. They thought the earth was flat and that the sun orbited the earth. It caused quite a stir when this view had to be revised. But that was a long time ago and now we accept that picture of our solar system without much thought. Sure the world is round and we orbit the sun, but what does that have to do with anything? It doesn't change what I have to do at work tomorrow, does it? Is that what Easter becomes for us? We believe it happened but then, we've always believed that. Even Easter has somehow become part of the “routines” of this world. So why would it have much of an effect on what we do tomorrow? Easter is no longer shocking for us--it surely does not make us re-evaluate everything else we think we know. And anyway, we're not sure we want to have everything in our lives changed. Of course, if we can believe in the resurrection at all, it is a gift of faith granted to us by the prior gift of grace. But if we have received that grace and accept the truth that gets proclaimed from every Christian pulpit in the world each Easter Sunday morning, then we have to know that this truth changes everything. This is not some fact we can ponder just once every twelve months. This changes everything.... and on EVERY day. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations Usually, the message on this Sunday is about how to deal with doubt, negativity and pain. Usually on this day we hear the story of doubting Thomas- and how doubt is a part of our faith. But that is not the message that God gave me today. He gave me acts 5 to focus on today. I love the book of acts, which is why I love the easter season. Because it tells the story of how the church grew – and as the disciples realized that they must be witnesses and tell what happened – people listened to them. The church grew b leaps and bounds, because there were other witnesses to the power of resurrection. In acts chapter 5 - the apostles are bought before the jewish authorities, not the roman authorities. And told not to talk anymore. Not to tell people about jesus. They continue to preach and they are put in jail. Scripture says that angels came in the middle of the night and released them. We don’t know if the angels mentioned are spiritual or human. The scripture gives us no clue. But the point of the story is that when they get out of jail, they continue to tell the story. The message of acts 5 – the apostles say that they have to listen to God and not to man. They have to do what god says and not what makes man comfortable. Have you ever noticed that whenever there is a message that will bring freedom to the people, whenever there is a message that will make life easier, that the authorities don’t want silence. They want nothing said about that situation. That is why it is so important to have witnesses, who know the story and are willing to tell the story. The world values manipulation, domination and retaliation. God values love, grace and peace. If we are witnesses to the resurrection, then we must do the will of God and not the will of man. We have to do what God says and not what man says. The cool thing about the book of acts, is that when the apostles followed the will of God, then the world started listening to them. As I was preparing for this Sunday – God told me to be simple in my message – Easter is a choice. Easter is a choice for all of us. Have you noticed that the world is changing. Even within the last few months there are many things that are going on that will change the world. There are changes in the church, changes in our laws, changes in our situation. Even from last week, it is Easter all over again. Everything is transforming right before our eyes. But when we choose to live inside of the power of the living Christ. We are given the power to change, to transform. God is at work in the lives of those who choose to serve him. The text from the book of Revelation is not very long, but it makes it clear who God is and Who Jesus is. Jesus is a faithful witness to the promises of God in our lives. Jesus was willing to be faithful even to death and resurrection. It is Easter all over again today. It is Easter in our doubts and in our faith. It is Easter in our weakness and our strength. When we choose Easter – acts says we have the power to be brave, Revelations says we have to the power to witness to a miracle, and John says we have the power to bring peace. Choose Easter – and you choose the power of God in your life. We Know Where We Are Going The story is told about Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist of Princeton University in the early 20th century. Einstein was traveling from Princeton on a train, and when the conductor came down the aisle to punch the passengers’ tickets, Einstein couldn’t find his. He looked in his vest pocket, he looked in his pants pocket, he looked in his briefcase, but there was no ticket. The conductor was gracious; “Not to worry, Dr. Einstein, I know who you are, we all know who you are, and I’m sure you bought a ticket.” As the conductor moved down the aisle, he looked back and noticed Einstein on his hands and knees, searching under the seat for his ticket. The conductor returned to Einstein; “Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry. I know who you are. You don’t need a ticket, I’m sure you bought one.” Einstein arose and said “Young man, I too know who I am; what I don’t know is where I am going.” And that is the good news of Easter; that we know where we are going. We have been told by the Savior that his life and death has promised us life eternal. And Low Sundays don’t change that promise. And unemployment doesn’t change that promise. Neither does divorce, or bankruptcy, or cancer, or depression, or felony, or failure. Through elation and deflation and every emotion in between, this truth remains; we know whose we are and we know where we are going, because the Son of God has promised. And this, my friends, is faith. Steven Molin, Elated....Deflated God's Back It was Saturday, the day before Easter, and Joanne Hinch of Woodland Hills, California was sitting at the kitchen table coloring eggs with her three-year-old son Dan and her two-year-old daughter Debbie. She told her kids about the meaning of Easter and taught them the traditional Easter morning greeting and response, "He is risen...He is risen indeed!" The children planned to surprise their Dad, a Presbyterian minister, with that greeting as soon as he awoke the next morning. Easter arrived, little Dan heard his father stirring about in his bedroom, so the boy got up quickly, dashed down the hall and shouted the good news: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, God's back!" David E. Leininger, "Laugh, Thomas, Laugh!" I have a habit that may seem strange to some: I tape football games and watch them again—and again and again, if the game turns out right. Super Bowl 32 is one of my favorites, the one where the Broncos defeated Green Bay 31-24. (I’m a Bronco fan.) The first time I saw the game there were some tense moments: every turnover was nerve-wracking, every mistake was a potential disaster. Now the setbacks don’t bother me; I know how it ends. With every play I savor the victory that I know is coming. It may seem crazy, but there’s a sense in which a well-played game is a form of art. Have you ever watched a movie that you’ve already seen? Maybe the first time it was suspenseful, but not so the second time because you know how the story ends-—you know the good guy doesn’t fall off the cliff and the bad guy eventually gets caught. But you still enjoy the movie. In fact, since you’re not all tied up in the plot, you begin to appreciate other aspects of the film: clever dialogue, outstanding camera work, the use of a special effect, and so on. Since you know the ending you can enjoy the movie on a whole different level. That’s how we can enjoy life--as if we we are viewing it for the second time. We don’t have to sweat the outcome because we know God’s ultimate outcome. We need not wonder if he will take care of us, or if he will make cause all things to work together for his good. We know the outcome. And we know that since Jesus conquered death, we can, through him, conquer life. And in the process, we can enjoy the journey. Everyday is part of the celebration--even the tough days. That’s God’s promise. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) SOURCE: Steve May in "The One Minute Newsletter" from www.sermonnotes.com. One Sunday morning a pastor was dressing for church and had the radio on listening to a local church service. Suddenly he heard to minister say, "It’s Easter, and it doesn’t make any difference if Christ be risen or not..." Shocked, A.H.Ackley shouted," It’s a lie! He is risen!" His wife said," Why don’t you write a song about it?" Reading the gospels again" He is risen" and feeling God’s presence, he began writing. "I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today, I know that He is living, whatever men may say..."